Dan Meisler: Builder's goal is more affordable green homes

Bob Burnside of Fireside Home Construction just completed a model home that he hopes will get LEED Platinum certification - and set an example of how he hopes to make sustainable housing more affordable.

Burnside, who built the state's first LEED Platinum home on North Territorial Road near Dexter in 2007, said his latest model shows that he can complete green homes at about $115 per square foot.

That's based on a 1,960-square-foot ranch house, including a finished basement and a two-car garage that would retail for $225,000, not including the lot, driveway, or well or septic system.

"I've been thinking for a couple of years I wanted to build smaller. Obviously, with the economy we wanted to build a smaller, affordable, yet super-efficient home, and we've been able to do that," he said.

"We included the green things that people think are expensive but will end up being very affordable."

The price Burnside quoted includes a 30-percent tax credit for the cost of installing a geothermal heating and cooling system.

Aside from geothermal, the home was built with insulated concrete form blocks in the basement, structural insulating panels on the main floor, attic insulation with an R60 rating, and EnergyStar approved lighting.

The home, on Island Lake Drive near Dexter, will be purchased by a foreman on one of Burnside's crews, he said.

He said the home has some extras that drove up the cost, but that a few changes could bring the price of a new, green home down to the high- or mid-$100,000s. An unfinished basement, for example, would drive the price down.

"There are variations to the theme, but the general concept is sound and will appeal (to buyers)," Burnside said.

The home has three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, cathedral ceilings and a fireplace, and sits on 3.6 acres. Burnside also said the home can be built relatively quickly, with a four-month start-to-finish time frame.

Burnside has two more lots available on a four-lot, 18-acre development on which to build the green homes.

Depending on the prices for land and septic, the homes could end up being in the average range in terms of price per square foot.

According to figures compiled by Keller Williams' Martin Bouma, the average price per square foot of a home sold in Ann Arbor was $115 in the first two months of 2009, although the latest sales data from the Board of Realtors shows a continuing decline in sales prices.

Prices in other areas of the county are also lower, according to Bouma's data. For example, the average price per square foot in the Dexter school district was $96 during the same period, and $76 in the Chelsea district.

But Burnside said he's on a mission to disprove the conventional wisdom that green building means expensive building.

"There are a lot of myths out there about the costs of green," he said.

By comparison, a 3,500-square-foot "hybrid home" recently completed by Living Space Builders on Riverview Drive in Ann Arbor is listed at $1 million.

That comes out to $285 per square foot, but Living Space officials have also said their ultimate goal is to target a less affluent portion of the market as well. They said earlier this year that they can build such a home for $160 per square foot (Ann Arbor Business Review, Jan. 22, 2009).

The Living Space home has some different and more expensive green features than the one being completed by Fireside, including toxin-free bamboo flooring, a full-body shower and steam room in one of the guest bedrooms, and dual-flush toilets.